Experiential Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), China’s “artificial sun,” is currently being tested to pave the way for renewable energy in the future. In a recent test, the gadget setup was a fusion reactor that successfully ran for about 20 minutes at a stunning 70 million degrees Celsius.
The machine aims to harness the power of nuclear fusion, a method of generating nuclear energy that has yet to be fully investigated. The system is modelled after nuclear reactions that take place inside the sun and use hydrogen and deuterium gases as fuel. These experiments may help scientists get closer to the goal of “infinite clean energy.”
The reactor’s auxiliary heating system is being tested to make it more “hot” and “durable.” Since 2006, the Chinese-designed and built EAST has been utilized for nuclear fusion experiments. However, experts have just recently discovered a significant milestone.
According to the South China Morning Post, the “artificial sun” in the newest experiment ran at 70 million degrees Celsius for 1,056 seconds — or 17 minutes and 36 seconds. That’s nearly five times as hot as the real sun, which reaches a core temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius.